Cotton conditioner



May 30, 1939.

P. H. RYLANDER 160,253

COTTON CONDITIONER Filed June 22, 1936 5 Sheets-Sheet l y 1939- P I- -l. RYLANDER 2,160,253

' COTTON CONDITIONER Filed J\ 1ne 22, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 3 W0 Mm fire/m /2 Fun/vote y 30, 1939- v P. H. RYLANDER 2.160253 COTTON CONDITIONER Filed June 22, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 7 y it? 7 gmem tm' rein/m /7 51 maze Patented May 30, 1939 lTED STATES PATENT OFFICE COTTON CONDITIONER Parrish H. Rylander, San Antonio, Tex; Application June 22, 1936, Serial No. 86,637

6 Claims. (Cl. 19 -90) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in cotton conditioners.

This application is filed as a continuation in part of my co-pending application, filed on the 7th day of December, 1935, Serial No. 53,405.

One object of the invention is to provide an improved cotton conditioner which will efliciently condition the cotton without injuring the staple.

An important object of the invention is to provide an improved cotton conditioner, through which the cotton is 'carried at a comparatively slow rate, whereby a low temperature heat may be used to absorb the excess moisture to thoroughly dry the cotton, thereby eliminating the necessity of employing high temperatures, which perish or shorten the staple.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved conditioner which is so constructed that the cotton is spread out during its travel,

with means for applying'heat to the cotton at the time of such spreading, whereby the heat positively contacts every lock of cotton to thoroughly dry the same.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved conditioner wherein the agitation of the cotton is reduced, which permits the dirt, stems, and other extraneous matter to be sifted from the cotton, thereby thoroughly cleaning the same.

Still another object of the invention is to pro vide an improved conditioner which includes a rotatable screen drum having a spiral baflie therein, with means for introducing air into the cotton within said drum, the baflie being so arranged that the cotton is not pushed or conveyed by the baflie but is rather lifted or carried along the lower portion, of the screen by a co-action between the baflie and the incoming air, whereby agitation of the cotton is reduced and more thorough cleaning and drying of the cotton is accomplished.

Figure l is a view, partly in elevation and partly in section, of a cotton conditioner, constructed in accordance with the invention,

Figure 2 is an elevation of one end of the conditioner,

Figure 3' is an elevation of the opposite end thereof,

Figure 4 is a transverse vertical sectional-view, taken on the line 4-54 of Figure 1,

\ Figure 5 is a transverse vertical sectional view,

- taken on the'line 5-5 of Figure 1,

' Figure 6 is a transverse vertical sectional view,

taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 1,

Figure 7 is a transverse vertical sectional view, of a modified form of the invention, and

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 7, and showing still another modification of the invention.

In the drawings, the numeral l0 designates an elongate casing or housing, which may be constructed of metal, or other suitable material. The housing comprises a lower section II and an upper section [2, which sections are suitably se- 10 cured together by bolts I3, or other means. As is clearlyshown in Figures 5 and 6, the lower section I I has a substantially triangular shape in cross-section with its side walls converging toward their lower ends to form a trough M at the 1 bottom of the housing. The upper section I! is arch-shaped, or semi-circular in cross-section. The housing is supported by a suitable frame I5, which rests'upon the floor or other base. The sections II and I2 of the housing are suitably 20 insulated throughout their entire surface in any suitable manner, whereby when heat is introduced into said housing, said heat is retained therein.

An inlet opening i6 is provided in the top of 25 the housing III at one end thereof and a cotton inlet hopper I1 is mounted above and communicates with the inlet opening. Cotton introduced through the hopper Il falls through the inlet l6 and into an inlet chamber l8 which is formed 30 at the end of the housing below the opening [6. As clearly shown in Figure 4, the inlet chamber I8 is formed with inclined side walls l9 and an arcuate or semi-circular shaped bottom 20, which bottom is located in vertical alignment within 35 the inlet opening i6, being spaced some dis ance above the trough l4 formed in the-bottom o the housing ID. A cotton outlet trough 2| is connected in the opposite end of the housing l0 at the lower end thereof, and this trough has a 40 suitable conveyor 22 mounted therein. The inner end of the trough 2| is located within the housing, whereby cotton within this end of the housing may fall into the trough (Figure 6), and be carried from the housing l0. With this arrangement, it will be seen that the cotton .is introduced into the housing at one end thereof and is carried from the housing from the opposite end, whereby the cotton must pass throughout the entire longitudinal length of said housing.

For carrying or movingthe cotton which is introduced into the inlet chamber I 8 through the housing and to the outletconveyor 22, a longitudinal rotatable shaft 23 extends throughout the entire length of the housing l0 and has its ends mounted in suitable bearing supports 24 secured to the endwalls of the housing ID. A plurality of radial arms 25 have their inner ends secured to the shaft 23 and extend outwardly from said shaft as shown in Figures 4, 5 and 6. A continuous spiral baffle 26 is mounted on the radial arms 25 and surrounds the shaft 23 as is clearly shown in Figure 1. The baflle extends from the end of the shaft within the inlet chamber I8 throughout the length of the shaft 23 and terminates short of the outlet end wall of the housing Ill, whereby a vertical space or passage 21 is formed at the outlet end of the housing. It is noted that the inner edge 26' of the spiral baffle 26 is not in engagement with the periphery of the shaft 23, but is spaced therefrom whereby a circular passage or opening 28 is provided around the shaft 23 throughout the entire length of the spiral baflie. The initial flight 29 of the baflle, or

that flight which is located within the inlet chamher It has a smaller diameter thanthe remaining flights of said baflle, as is clearly shown in Figure 1. This permit." the bottom 20 of the inlet chamber to be disposed above, in a horizontal plane, the outer edges of the flights of said baflle within the housing,

A longitudinal angle bar 30 is secured to the extreme outer end of each radial arm 25, to which the baiile 26 is secured. The angle bar extends from the inlet chamber l8 throughout the length of the baflle 26 and terminates at the point at which said baflie terminates which is spaced some distance from the outlet end wall of the housing II). It is noted that the angle bars are so secured to the radial arms that one leg of each angle bar is directed inwardly toward the shaft 23 whereby these inwardly extended legs form inwardly extending lugs. Screen wire, or other foraminous material 3| encloses the spiral baflie 26, being se-.

cured to the outer edges of said baflle as well as a to the angle bars 30 fastened to the outer end of the radial arms 25. It will be seen that with this arrangement a screen drum 32is formed within the housing In. It is pointed out that the screening material extends from the inlet chamber l8 and encloses the flights of the bafiie which are .located within the housing Ill. The screening material terminates at the point of termination of the baflie near the outer outlet end of the housing I0. It ispointed out that both ends of the drum 32 formed by the screening, or other foraminous material, are open, whereby cotton introduced into the inlet chamber l8 may enter the screen drum 32, be carried therethrough and finally ejected or dropped from the drum from the opposite open end thereof. The cotton emitting from the open end of the drum 32 will enter the vertical passage or space 21 and drop into the conveyor trough 2| where said cotton will be carried from the housing by the rotatable conveyor 22.

In operation, the cotton is introduced into the inlet chamber l8 through the hopper I1 and will, of course, fall to the bottom of this chamber. The shaft 23 carries a gear 33 on one end thereof and this gear is located exteriorly of the housing. A suitable chain, or other drive may be passed over this gear to impart a rotation to the shaft 23, baflle 26- and screen drum 32 which is secured to said shaft. As the cotton enters the inlet cham-. ber l8 it will be obvious that it will be engaged by the first reduced flight 29 of the baflle 2B which is located within said chamber. It is noted that there is no screen enclosing'the reduced flight 29 and, therefore, this flight acts as an ordinary screw conveyor to push the cotton from the inlet chamber I8 into the interior of the screen drum 32. a

The screen drum is rotating at a comparatively slow speed, whereby the cotton is retained in the lower end or portion of the drum and is not carried completely therearound. The spiral baflle 26 within the screen drum is, of course, rotating therewith, but it is noted that the baflle does not act as an ordinary conveyor to push the cotton through the drum. There is no forcing action on the cotton as it moves through said drum, the spiral baflle acting to merely slowly move the cotton forwardly or longitudinally therein. The action of the cotton within the drum is clearly shown in Figure 5. The cotton settles to the bottom portion of the drum and as said drum rotates the lugs which are formed by the inwardly extending legs of the angle bars 3ll will engage the cotton and will tend to spread said cotton over the inner surface of the drum toward the left hand side in Figure 5 as said drum rotates in a clockwise direction. In other words, the lugs engage the cotton and act to lift the same upwardly on the inner surface of the drum.

For drying the cotton which is spread over the surface of the screen drum by the action of the lugs extending inwardly into said drum, a plurality of elongate nozzles 34 are provided in the side wall of the housing I. These nozzles as shown in Figure 1 are disposed in horizontal alignment and may extend throughout the entire length of the housing. It is noted that the nozzles may be continuous to provide one elongate continue nozzle extending longitudinally of the housing. e nozzles are suitably connected with a source of hot air supply, whereby hot air may be ejected into the screen drum through said nozzle. It is noted that the nozzles are disposed near the lower end of the screen drum in afhorizontal plane and are directed inwardly toward the center of the housing.

The hot air which is introduced into the cotton travelling through the screen drum, is, due to the disposition or location of the inlet nozzle 34, directed into contact with theseed cotton at the time that said cotton has been spread in a comparatively thin layer on the interior surface of the drum. Therefore, they hot air is forced into contact with each lock of" cotton and will thoroughly dry the same. The air is, of course, under a certain amount of pressure and is forced into contact with the cotton with a jetting action. Therefore, the air not only serves to dry the cotton but also acts to force the cotton which is riding upwardly on the interior surface of the drum back towards the center of the drum,

whereby a rolling or tumbling motion is imparted to the cotton within the lower end or portion of the drum. Therefore, it will be seen that the lugs formed by the angle bars 30 act to carry and spread the cotton upwardly along the inner surface of the drum as clearly shown in Figure 5. As this upwardly travelling cotton moves opposite the ejection nozzles 34, the air introduced through said nozzle strikes the cotton and forces the same back towards the center of the drum' where it will fall by gravity to the extreme lower end of said drum. When it reaches the bottom of the drum the lugs will again spread the same on the inner surface of the drum and will again carry the cotton upwardly until the air again contacts the cotton. In this manner it will be seen that a rollingor tumbling motion is given to the cotton and said cotton is kept separated to a degree within the screened drum. The spiralbaflle 26 which is at all times rotating with the drum will,

of course, act to move the cotton slowly along the interior of the drum until said cotton reaches the outlet end.

During the travel of the cotton through the drum and also due to the tumbling motion imparted thereto by the location of the air nozzle and the action ofcthe lugs, it will be seen that the sticks, stems, dirt, and other extraneous matter will drop outwardly through the screen drum and thereby be separated from the cotton. It is noted that air blowing into the comparatively thin sheet of cotton spread on the inner surface of the drum will blow the fine dust and dirt from the cotton to the opposite side of the drum where said dirt may fall through the screen of the drum and downwardly into the trough l4 formed at the lower end of the housing iii. The dirt which is separated from the cotton and falls into the trough may be suitably disposed of and conveyed from the housing by a-suitable spiral conveyor 35 which leads to a dirt outlet 36 at one end of the housing. From the above, it will be seen that the cotton is carried or moved through the screen drum 32 in a rolling motion and contacts only the bottom and one side of the interior of the screen drum.- It is this rolling motion which is imparted to the cotton which causes the heatto be applied through the nozzle 34 to the cotton many times as it passes through the comparatively long drum 32. Therefore, every lock of the cotton is contacted by the heat many times and its drying is assured. At the same time that the cotton is being dried the dirt, sticks, stems, and other extraneous matter is removed from the cotton. Since the drum is rotating-at ,a comparatively slow speed, this extraneous matter is thoroughly sifted out and dropped into the dirt trough Mat the lower end of the housing. It is again pointed out that the bafile 26 does not impart aforcing actioh to the cotton but merely serves to move said cotton along the lower end of the screen drum.

The air which enters the screen drum through the elongate nozzles 34 after contacting the cotton will flow through the central passage 28 which is formed around the shaft 23. The air will finally enter the vertical passage 2? at the-outlet end of the housing l0 and will pass upwardly through an outlet 21 which may have, if desired, a suitable conduit connected thereto. The hot air passing through the entire length of the housing will, of course, heat the housing which will increase the efl'iciency of the drying of the cotton, and the insulated walls of the housing It will tend to retain this heat.

Another feature of the invention is the use of a comparatively low temperature of the air which is injected through the nozzles 36. It has been found that in drying damp or wet seed cotton, care must be exercised in the use of the heat ap plied because if the air is too hot, the staple will 05 be perished and shortened. In theconditioner shown herein, the cotton is detained within the screen drum by the spiral baffle 26 and also is given a rolling action within the lower portion of the drum. This provides a sufilcient length of time for a low temperature heat to absorb the excess'moisture and thus with the use of such heat having a comparatively low temperature, there is no damage or injury to the staple. The constant roll g motion imparted to the cotton 3@ in the lower portion of the drum not only facili-v tates the drying, but greatly increases the efilciency of the cleaning.

It is pointed out that the size of the circular opening or passage 28 which is formed at the center of the screen drum 32 will vary with the 5 bulk and nature of the material. In other words, the size of this opening is controlled by the height of the baflle 26 or the distance from the outer to the inner edge of each flight of the baflie: The size or height of each flight will, therefore, vary in proportion to the bulk and nature of the material and the heightof this flight need only be sufiicient to prevent the allowable amount of cotfi ton in each compartment which is formed by the spiral flights from spilling over into the next compartment before completing one eomplte revolution of the drum 32. Therefore, the cotton which is introduced into thescreen drum 32 remains in the lower portion of the drum as disclosed in Figure 5. The cotton can never fall from one compartment into the next compartment through the circular opening 28 and, therefore, it

cannot pass into the next compartment until the spiral baflle 26 has made one complete revolution at which time the cotton is, of course, 25 moved forwardly by contact with the bafile.

The pitch or advance per revolution of the spiral baflie 26 is proportioned to the diameter of the screen drum and the rotative speed of said drum, and the revolutions per minute'are regulated to provide a surface speed of the screen which is only suflicient to pick up and drop the material repeatedly for progressive advancement along the inside of the revolving screen drum by gravity, without apparent centrifugal pressure or forced longitudinal pressure from the spiral baflle 26.

Although the nozzles have been described as. injecting hot air into the cotton passing through the screen drum 32, it is pointed out that the nozzles 34 may be used for properly conditioning the cotton as well as drying the same. For example, the air blast may be used for any suflicient humidity to prevent shrivelling lint fibres from dry heat, for humidifying dry spongy lint in arid dry regions, and for otherwise conditioning material. The nature or properties of the air blast may be readily varied by the addition or subtraction of moisture, or other matter such as vaporor gases, or powdered material, whereby the treatment and conditioning of the cotton may be carried out.

In Figures '7 and 8, I have shown a slightly modified form of the invention. In Figure 7 a housing i0, having twice the width of' the housing ill is provided. Screen drums 32' which are similar to the drum 32 are mounted on opposite sides of the housing it and the material such as cotton? to be conditioned is introduced into the interior of these drums in the same manner as in the first form. Instead of providing the nozzles 3% for introducing the air blast to the screen drum in the side of the housing, I provide an air conduit 38 which is located between the drums 32'.- The conduit 39 is connected by a suitable pipe or other conductor 40 with a .1 double nozzle M. The nozzle 4! is located near the lower portion of the drums 32' in a horizontal plane. It will be obvious that the air passing from the conduit 39 will be ejected from the. nozzle M and into thedrums 32'. If desired, a similar nozzle 42 may be located below the nozzle ti, and this latter nozzle is supplied with air by a suitable conduit 33. Y

In Figure 8, a structure similar to that shown 35 in Figure 7 is disclosed. In place of the double nozzle 4| and 42 provided in Figure '7, nozzles 34 which are located similarly to the nozzles 34 in the form shown in Figures 1 to 6, are provided. The action of these nozzles is the same as that in the first form and a detailed description is deemed unnecessary.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

l. A cotton cleaner and dryer including, a casing, a rotatable drum of foraminous material, a single continuous spiral bafiie having a solid surface secured within the drum and having a central longitudinal passage therethrough, whereby the interior of the drum is divided into compartments which communicate with each other through said passage, means for introducing cotton into the drum, means for rotating the drum at a comparatively slow speed whereby the cotton remains in the lower portion of the drum, the partitions formed by the baffle being suificiently high to prevent the cotton from passing through the central passage into the next compartment, means for imparting a rolling action to the cotton within the lower portion of each compartment, the rotation of the spiral baffle with the drum acting to progressively advance the cotton from one compartment to the next without any forced longitudinal pressure, and a manifold for supplying hot or dry air extending longitudinally of the drum and having means for directing air jets transversely through and across the drum to blow dirt and foreign matter out of the drum on the opposite side.

2. A cotton cleaner and dryer in accordance with claim 1 wherein the air jets are arranged to operate below the plane of the horizontal transverse axis of the drum and above the bottom of the drum on the ascending side with relation to the movement of the cotton so as to blow hot air through the advancing portion of the bulk of cotton as it is lifted upward in the drum, whereby no portion of the cotton escapes the air Washing and drying capacity of the air blast.

M 3. A cotton cleaner and dryer including, a casing, a rotatable drum of foraminous material, a spiral bafiie having a solid surface secured within the drum and having a central longitudinal passage therethrough, whereby the interior of the drum is divided into compartments which communicate with each other through said passage, means for introducing cotton into the drum, means for rotating the drum at a comparatively slow speed whereby the cotton remains in the lower portion of the drum, the partitions formed by the baffle being sufficiently high to prevent the cotton from passing through the central passage into the next compartment, means for imparting a rolling action to the cotton within the lower portion of each compartment, the rotation of the spiral baflle with the drum acting to progressively advance the cotton from one compartment to the next without any forced longitudinal pressure, and means for conditioning the cotton as it passes through the drum.

4. A cotton cleaner and dryer in accordance with claim 3 including a V-shaped hopper bottom forming the lower portion of the casing and arranged to receive dirt and foreign matter blown through the drum, and a screw conveyor in said hopper for removing the dirt therefrom.

5. A cotton cleaner and dryer in accordance with claim 3 wherein means are provided for feeding cotton continuously into one end of the drum, means for continuously removing the treated cotton form the machine as it passes out of the other end of the drum, means for removing separated dirt and trash continuously, and outlet means for the escape of the used air from the top of the machine above the cotton outlet.

6. A cotton cleaner and dryer including, a casing, a rotatable drum of foraminous material, a single continuous spiral bafile having a solid surface secured within the drum and having a central longitudinal passage therethrough, whereby the interior of the drum is divided into compartments which communicate with each other,

through said passage, an inlet chamber for receiving cotton to be conditioned at one end of the casing and communicating therewith, the baflle having one end extending from the drum into the inlet chamber, whereby as the drum and bafile rotate cotton is forced from the chamber into the drum, means for rotating the drum at a comparatively slow speed whereby the cotton remains in the lower portion of the drum, the partitions formed by the baflie being sufiiciently high to prevent the cotton from passing through the central passage into the next compartment, means for imparting a rolling action to the cotton within the lower portion of each compartment, the rotation of the spiral baifie 'with the drum acting to progressively advance the cotton from one compartment to the next without any forced longitudinal pressure, and means for conditioning the cotton as it passes through the drum.

PARRISH H. RYLANDER. 

